


Double Heart

by Tarlan



Category: Eureka
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Coffee Shops, Community: trope_bingo, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-29
Updated: 2013-03-29
Packaged: 2017-12-06 20:42:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/739953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack had needed a job to see him through the final months before he could apply for the Police Academy. Working as a barista at the coffee shop seemed perfect - until years later when he looked back and realized that he had met and then lost the man of his dreams in those few short weeks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Double Heart

At seventeen years of age, and coming from one of the poorer neighborhoods in L.A., there were not that many job opportunities for a kid who had aspirations of eventually becoming an officer of the law.

Becoming a U.S. Marshal was Jack's new dream after being forced to abandon all hopes of becoming a professional baseball player. He wanted to hunt down and put away those who preyed on others - guys who were as bad, if not worse than those running the drugs and prostitution rackets in his neighborhood. First he had to get into the Police Academy, which was not as easy as it sounded as there were plenty of applicants who were smarter and who didn't already have a Juvenile record following Angie's death six months earlier.

It hadn't been his fault but he'd been too far gone in shock at the time, blaming himself for her death even though he hadn't been the one behind the wheel. They had charged him with reckless endangerment, a class 1 misdemeanor, and he never bothered to set the record straight. He felt he deserved it but rather than let it drag him down, Angie's death made him more determined than ever to make something good of his life; something his mom and Angie would have been proud of had they both still lived.

His best friend had already mocked his back-up dream of the U.S. Marshals, telling him he was aiming too high for some punk kid from a bad neighborhood. Only four percent of applicants made it through the rigorous application and testing process, and most of those came straight out of college with degrees in criminology or other law enforcement related subjects.

Jack knew he wasn't book smart, and that left him with only one way to attain his new dream - four years as a beat cop, learning on the job - except he couldn't even start down that road until he turned eighteen. He had quit school just before the accident, and with his dad barely living off a disability pension after losing half a leg in the dying days of the Vietnam war, Jack had needed a job to tied him over until he could apply to the academy. If he didn't get in then the only feasible option open to a kid with his academic record was to take his dad's advice and enlist, except Jack knew something he hadn't shared with his dad. He knew he was just as attracted to guys as to girls, and the thought of having to hide his bisexuality from a homophobic military was unacceptable.

He wasn't ashamed of liking cock as much as pussy. He simply valued having a roof over his head until he could afford his own place, and he held no delusions over how his father would react if he learned of Jack's interest in guys. He'd be thrown out, and likely disowned. Strangely, being disowned didn't bother him in the slightest, but he'd promised his mom that he'd take care of his sister.

Slowly spiraling out from his neighborhood, it had taken a while but eventually he found a job out in Westward at a small coffee shop catering to the students and staff at UCLA. He'd been up front with the owner right from the start, telling Mike his plans. Of course, it hadn't hurt that Mike was a thirty-year veteran of LAPD, who'd taken early retirement a few years earlier and opened up this coffee shop. But they'd hit it off over a mutual love of the Angels, especially after Jack told him of his aborted boyhood dream of becoming a pitcher. He had the arm for it, and the hand-eye coordination, but the car crash had taken him out of the game when he needed to be on the field for the scouts. When he met Mike, Jack had only just finished rehab on his leg, leaving it far too late for that dream to become reality.

Least Jack had always had this fall back dream of becoming a U.S. Marshal.

Three days after his eighteenth birthday, Jack fist-pumped the air as he read the acceptance letter from the Police Academy.

"YES!" He was finally taking the first step to fulfilling his dream. "I got in!" In three weeks he would be entering the academy and starting a whole new part of his life.

"Never doubted it, kid." Mike was grinning too, taking the letter from Jack and reading it through. He squeezed Jack's shoulder. "Congratulations, though I have to admit I'm going to miss you around here. You're a good kid."

Jack's smile widened with the unexpected praise. 

"Jack, can you handle the counter alone for a while. I need to get on with these accounts before I have the IRS breathing down my neck. Then I guess I'll have to start advertising for a new barista."

Jack grinned and nodded. 

After four months working as a barista, Jack knew the morning stampede for coffee had ended. There would be a lull for an hour before the next trickle of students and staff became a flood. Strangely, he'd expected the campus to empty after the end of the semester, with most heading back to wherever they came from for the summer, and was surprised at how many new faces were coming in each day. There were still a few regulars too, along with the usual bevy of giggling girls trying to catch his eye.

Mike hadn't exactly forbidden him from getting too comfortable with the customers but he'd implied that it was better to keep it professional. Despite the teenage hormones running rampant through him - and despite knowing he was a good looking guy who could probably have made a name for himself in the porno industry if he hadn't wanted to become a Marshal - Jack had a lot of respect for Mike so he had kept his dick in his pants. He dropped the numbers scrawled onto napkins into the waste bin as soon as the customer left, having discovered many years earlier that a charming smile and a polite attitude took the edge off any frustration, keeping everyone sweet especially when he didn't return a call.

Keeping himself busy, he started to wipe down the counter and missed the new customer's entrance until the guy cleared his throat. Looking up with a ready smile, Jack felt his heart skip a beat when he found himself staring into the blue-green eyes of one of the most gorgeous guys Jack had ever seen. Dark brown hair fell in curls and waves to shoulder length, and the five o'clock shadow outlined a strong jaw and lips so sweet that he felt a desperate urge to lean in and taste them.

Jack had always had an amazing memory for faces, able to pick out a total stranger in a crowd from just a photo, but he didn't need that skill to know he'd never seen this guy before. He would have remembered him. Tall, dark, brooding and handsome, lean yet well defined muscle, and only a few years older than Jack. Exactly Jack's taste in guys, and he hoped his face didn't look as flushed as it felt.

"What can I get you?"

The guy stared at Jack a moment longer as if mesmerized, and then seemed to snap out of it with the rapid beating of long, dark eyelashes. He shook his head a little and gave a chagrined smile.

"Mocha Latte."

"To go?"

"No, I'll..." The guy nodded towards a table near the back.

As Jack prepared the coffee, he smiled back at the guy. "Not seen you in here before."

"I'm... attending summer classes at UCLA."

"Huh! Didn't realize they had lectures over the summer. Kind of explains all the new faces."

Jack handed over the coffee, complete with an artistic double heart pattern that Mike had taught him only a day earlier; he took the offered ten dollar bill, handing back change. The guy flushed a little at seeing the heart adorning his coffee, murmuring his thanks before heading towards the table. Jack grinned to himself as he went back to cleaning the counter top but couldn't resist the occasional glance over towards the hot guy. He caught him looking back a couple of times, reflected in the mirrors when the guy didn't think Jack was looking.

On the guy's fifth visit in as many days, Jack learned his name purely because he brought in a girlfriend, who used it freely.

"Ooh! Nathan! So pretty!"

She was referring to the fern pattern Jack had created on her flat white coffee, while he gave Nathan a heart as always, symbolically and only for Nathan, despite feeling strangely disappointed at seeing Nathan with a girl. The girl fawned over Nathan the entire time, though Jack could almost believe Nathan was embarrassed by her attention even though he smiled back at her.

Jack didn't expect to see him on the Saturday and was equally surprised when Nathan entered alone, taking up his usual table near the back after picking up his usual order of a Mocha Latte. Again, as usual, he spread papers across the table that were covered in strange numbers and symbols, working in silence as he sipped his coffee. Jack would notice him take covert glances in his direction.

Over the week following, Jack noticed a pattern and realized how easy it was to make assumptions based on age. He had thought Nathan was a student attending summer courses, but it became obvious that he was a lecturer or professor. Some of those who occasionally joined him for coffee were obviously seeking his advice and knowledge, and Jack gained his proof when one called him 'sir' instead of Nathan.

Jack never realized how much he had come to look forward to seeing Nathan until the day he didn't show. When Saturday came and went with no sign of Nathan, Jack felt his heart ache, aware that this was his last day. He would start at the academy on Monday, and with a heavy heart, he consigned Nathan to his memories of good times spent at the coffee shop. At the end of a final double shift, he removed his name tag for the last time and offered it to Mike, only to have his fist closed over it.

"Nah. You keep it as a memento... and a reminder to come back and visit this old man from time to time. Don't be a stranger, Jack."

Jack let Mike pull him into a hug. "Do me proud, Jack."

"I will."

Taking one last look, Jack stepped outside into the night-darkened street and started walking, glancing over his shoulder when he heard fast footsteps behind him some minutes later.

"Jack!"

Stopping, Jack looked back and was surprised to see Nathan running towards him, and pleased too as he didn't even think Nathan had paid any attention to his name. Hearing it fall from those sweet lips was doubly pleasurable.

"Hey... Nathan."

Nathan stopped, breathing hard from the run, and Jack waited for him to catch his breath.

"Just heard it's your last day."

"Yeah."

"Law enforcement?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah. L.A.'s finest."

"I'm... It's my last day too. I'm heading back to Massachusetts tomorrow and I wondered if I could buy you a coffee-"

"No. Not really," Jack grinned as Nathan's hopeful smile faded. "But you could make me a coffee."

The smile returned full force and they fell in step with Jack letting Nathan lead him towards the residential block that housed out of state lecturers and support staff. Nathan took him up a flight of stairs and along a short corridor to a room at the end. Inside it was fairly bland and Jack smiled as Nathan removed a stack of papers from the bed and piled them on the already overflowing desk. Jack sat down on the edge of the bed and watched as Nathan pottered around, filling a kettle and setting it to boil. A couple of mugs needed a rinse and Jack smiled at the weirdness of being the one served coffee for a change.

Nathan frowned. "I have no idea how you like your coffee."

"Strong, sweet and black."

The coffee was nowhere near as good as Mike's, and it was too hot to drink so Jack set it aside for a moment, wondering if he looked just as nervous as Nathan. It wasn't his first time with a guy but he was still inexperienced enough to feel shy even though he knew what he wanted. He licked suddenly dry lips as Nathan settled next to him on the narrow bed, turning to face Nathan as a hand cupped his face. Leaning in to meet Nathan halfway, he sighed as he tasted the lips that had tempted him from day one. He could feel the scratch of bristles against his own as they deepened the kiss, darting tongues teasing and tasting until Jack pulled away.

It seemed strange to feel like he was the more experienced one despite being several years younger, but at least this time he didn't need to lie about his age. He was eighteen; over the age of consent if only by a few weeks. Nathan tugged at Jack's t-shirt, and Jack was happy to help him out by raising his arms, feeling the cool air against his naked skin. In turn, he helped Nathan strip off his tee, moving back together again for another kiss that was heightened by the wondrous sensation of skin against skin. From the glimpse gained while Nathan stripped, the guy was every bit as perfect as Jack imagined; lean yet muscular, a runner's body.

The pressure of the hands sliding over his skin eased him onto his back with Nathan draped over him.

He moaned into the kiss, bucking up against the firmly muscled thigh pressing between his legs. Jack couldn't recall kicking off his sneakers and socks, but the memory of Nathan sitting up, undoing Jack's pants and sliding both pants and boxers down his legs would be forever etched into his mind. He would have felt ridiculous lying naked and exposed on Nathan's narrow bed if not for Nathan's obvious appreciation. Jack's fingers trembled slightly as he reached for Nathan's jeans, popping the button and pulling down the zipper. He grinned when he realized Nathan wasn't wearing anything underneath, letting his thumb and forefinger stroke the length of the Nathan's cock before impatiently trying to push the remaining barrier to naked skin aside. Nathan laughed and stood up, quickly stripping before sliding back on top of Jack, leaving another glorious image imprinted on Jack's memory.

They kissed hard and passionate, thrusting against each other almost as if they were in a race to see who could come first, and as the shockwave of pleasure rolled over Jack, he muffled his soft cries against Nathan's throat. Languid and pleasure-sated, he felt Nathan pulse against him moments later, the warmth of Nathan's breath panting hard against his rapidly cooling, sweat-soaked skin.

A handful of tissues cleaned up the worst of the semen smeared across their lower body.

"Communal showers," Nathan murmured in distaste, and Jack grinned. 

He'd spent enough time naked in the school's locker room and communal shower to have no real concerns over nudity under certain conditions, but a communal shower after sex was a lot different to sharing with the High School baseball team after a game. It was a matter of intimacy, so he pushed Nathan onto his back and draped himself partially over him, resting his head on Nathan's shoulder and his arm draped loosely around Nathan's waist. The lethargy of great sex soon took its toll and Jack felt himself lulled to sleep by the steady beat of Nathan's heart and his soft breathing.

They must have moved in the night as Jack awoke to the feel of Nathan's hard cock rubbing insistently in the valley between Jack's ass cheeks. Strong fingers wrapped around Jack's morning erection and stroked him. He felt the cock nudge against his entrance but without lube and a condom, it wasn't going to happen. Sadly, neither of them would be earning a boy scout badge for being prepared. Nathan wrapped his leg tighter around Jack, thrusting harder along the valley before coming hard over Jack's lower back. He took a moment before resuming the perfect strokes with that slight twist of thumb, and Jack threw his head back against Nathan's shoulder as he came, breath ragged as Nathan licked and nipped along his jaw line with soft, biting kisses before dragging Jack around far enough to latch onto his lips.

The kiss was gentle, and it tasted bittersweet, like a goodbye, which seemed appropriate somehow as Jack knew their paths might never cross again.

A short time later, as he walked away from Nathan's building, Jack glanced back once and caught sight of Nathan watching him from the window. He offered a last small wave goodbye before turning the corner on that moment in his life. Ahead of him he still had his dream but he had a feeling he was leaving another one behind.

***

Many years later, Jack barely contained his surprise when the new head of Global Dynamics turned around. Jack had always been exceptionally good at remembering faces, and despite the passing years, he would know this man anywhere. Memories of those few weeks and that amazing one night came flooding back but it was obvious that Nathan didn't recognize him.

The bitterness made it easier to find reason to forget the warmth of the younger man who had shared that one glorious night and dislike the colder version standing before him.

Three years later, months after Allison had shot both of them down, they had formed a begrudging friendship after saving first Fargo from an ever-expanding force field bubble, and then the whole town from a volcanic eruption. As they sat in Cafe Diem slumped into a booth waiting to be served after the latest fiasco with two suns, Nathan cocked his head to the side, his expression both a little curious and a little bitter.

"What?" Jack asked, because this wasn't the first time Nathan had stared at him as if on the brink of remembering their shared past.

Nathan frowned. "We knew each other a lifetime ago, and I wish you remembered."

Jack felt his heart skip in surprise. All this time he had thought Nathan was the one who had forgotten those few short weeks. He pushed up from the table and walked away. When he reached the counter he turned and noticed that Nathan had not moved a muscle. He had his back to Jack, and his shoulders had slumped, head bowed. Slipping behind the counter, Vincent looked up in shock but curiosity got the better of him and he remained silent, watching as Jack handled the coffee machine with all the dexterity learned in those few short months at Mike's coffee shop. He carried the coffee back to the table and set it down in front of a still slumped Nathan, watching closely as Nathan's spine straightened.

The Mocha Latte with a double heart was forgotten as Nathan reached up and pulled Jack down, kissing away the bitterness of lost years as an old dream swept out before them, filled with new possibilities.

END


End file.
